Vitis: Germans' euro dilemma
The Germans should be careful what they wish for. The latest Eurobarometer poll shows that a (slim) majority of Germans (51%) would like to leave the euro and reinstate the Deutschemark. It is fed up of bailing out its southern European fellow euro zone members.
But part of the reason why countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal are in trouble is that they have lost competitiveness vis-à-vis Germany over the past decade.
And that's because the latter has focused on a low-growth export-oriented model. The euro was central to this strategy. Germans now want to ditch the single currency and reinstate the DM which would stoke domestic demand and create the ideal conditions for successful European integration. What is a country to do?
